Film Review- "Sing"

Sing
Directed by Garth Jennings
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, and Scarlett Johansson

Outside of the original Despicable Me, the films of Illumination Entertainment haven't had a lasting impact on me. The second Despicable film was good but never matched the original, and the Minions spinoff bored me. The Lorax got too preachy instead of celebrating its source material, I never saw Hop or The Secret Life of Pets, the former's trailers didn't wow and the latter appears just to be Toy Story with pets. Then Sing came along with its flashy trailers, selling a delightful animated musical like something right out of the nineties. Those trailers were enough to get me into the theaters this past weekend, and did Sing deliver? Well, for the most part.

Koala Buster Moone (McConaughey) has always loved musical theatre since his father took him to his first show as a child. Now the owner of his own theatre, Buster's facing financial woes, with the threat of the bank seizing control of his assets. After a long string of flops, Buster now thinks he's got the show to save his theatre: A singing competition open to the public.

Some of the selected contestants include Johnny (Taron Edgerton), a gorilla reluctant to be a part of his criminal father's gang, Rosita (Witherspoon) a pig who's an overworked stay-at-home mom, and Ash (Johansson) a porcupine reduced to background vocals by her singing partner/lousy boyfriend. They and the other contestants all have something standing in their way of the spotlight, while Buster scrambles to make sure the show is a guaranteed success and his theatre is saved.

First off, if a musical about a bunch of anthromorphic animals trying to make it in show business sounds familiar, it is. Sing shares a lot of similarities to the forgotten gem of 1991, Cats Don't Dance (and if you haven't seen that I recommend it). Hell both the second act of each film bizarrely ends the same way. But without going into spoilers, Sing's storyline is pretty predictable. It's nothing we haven't seen before in movies.

All the contestants' story lines have been done before. Johnny? The one reluctant to follow a dream because of the disapproval of a parent. Rosita? The one letting their domestic life prevent them from following a dream. Meena the elephant (Tori Kelly)? She has to gain some confidence and overcome stage fright for everyone to see her real talent. Honestly how many times in a musical has a significant other squandered the talent of a character like Ash? There's even a subplot for Buster with the old "liar revealed" cliche' where there's a misunderstanding about the amount of prize money, but it goes nowhere and adds nothing to the film's plot.

Devil's advocate here: Just because the script isn't original, doesn't mean it's not written well. All the characters are still likable and you want to see them succeed. Sing is also one of those musicals where all the songs are just covers of already existing songs, with the exception of one original song in the film sung by Johansson's Ash and another in the end credits. The covers are pretty good though, and the songs they choose match the characters pretty well.

Whoever casted this thing must have gone to the Dreamworks Animation/Blue Sky Studios School of Animated Film Casting, meaning even the smallest of parts are voiced by big celebrities. Seriously, you know all the major players from the trailers, but did you know the likes of Nick Offerman, Leslie Jones, and Jennifer Hudson were also in this?? Me neither until the end credits, but I think it's a testament to their performances. I mean it's nice to see Leslie Jones not screaming and doing her usual schtick, or Nick Offerman not delivering his Ron Swanson dry wit once in awhile. But still, if you're going to have these character actors in small incidental roles, why have them at all?

Tori Kelly as is the true powerhouse of pipes in this musical's ensemble as Meena, who's got an incredible voice. Seth MacFarlane as Mike the mouse (Wait a minute. Mike…Mikey…Mick-I swear to God Illumination…) is doing all of his usual, from his Rat Pack (That's not a pun) style of singing to his typical albeit censored humor. Taron Edgerton gives a lot of heart to Johnny, and who knew he could sing so well? Personally he sings my favorite song in the film. Reese Witherspoon fits Rosita well, and we already knew she could sing. Nick Kroll plays her partner Gunter, who isn't as funny as he should have been. McConaughey, ironically the star of the film, doesn't sing, and I really wanted to know what his singing is like. Anyway he gives plenty of emotion and charisma to Buster.

So Sing isn't an original or groundbreaking film, but it's entertaining enough thanks to its likable characters and good music. Sometimes a film doesn't have to be original or groundbreaking, sometimes we just need something to hold us over for two hours. But is Sing your best animated option for that? No probably not, but I don't regret seeing it, and I enjoyed it enough. If time allows it, I might give it an encore performance.

Disney Sequel Showdown: "Beauty & The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas"

Disney Sequel Showdown: Round #4

Beauty & The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Directed by Andy Knight
Starring Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, and Tim Curry

Well Christmas is over but it doesn't mean the glad tidings of the season have to stop! So long as you keep the Christmas cheer in your hearts, and the DVDs of your favorite Christmas specials at the ready! Everyone's got their favorites, from Elf to The Grinch and Santa Claus Is Comin' Town, and if Beauty & The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is one of your favorites…why?

During a recent stint of Christmas shopping I came across this Disney direct-to-video sequel of old on DVD for ten bucks, and impulsively purchased. I hadn't seen this thing in a decade or so. You might say nostalgia combined with a decent price led me to buying it. Well as Christmas came to a close I sat down to watch it, and sadly this is not one of the better Disney sequels. Is it downright horrible? Not "entirely".

Also spoilers ahead. Do you care? Probably not. It's a Disney sequel from 1996.

The film is told primarily in flashback, and tells us how Belle (O'Hara) brought Christmas back to the castle, much to The Beast's (Benson) disapproval. The Beast hates Christmas. Why? Well it turns out the night he, his castle, and his servants were cursed was in fact, Christmas Eve. That's…neat? Jury's still out on the value of that twist.

Also I find the timeline of this film to be incredibly flimsy. Like it's supposed to take place after the wolf attack in the original but then where does it fit in? Before the library scene? No, because that's supposed to happen like a day after the wolf attack and he wouldn't wait like a week to give her the library. Before "Something There"? I mean that would make sense if it weren't for the fact that by that point in the original they were starting to get along and The Beast is a total dick here. Ugh, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Well it turns out that there's a villainous pipe organ named Maestro Forte (Curry), who used to be the castle's composer before the enchantment. Before the enchantment, The Beast had no use for Forte, and now The Beast uses his gloomy instrumentals as a source of comfort. So Forte likes this new sense of purpose and refuses to let Belle and The Beast fall in love and brake the spell. So he manipulates events through the workings of a piccolo named Fife (Paul Reubens. Paul Reubens is in a Beauty & The Beast film. That's wrong.) hoping to derail Belle's Christmas plans and have the castle remain enchanted forever.

Alright well to expand further on that "Beast is a dick" comment, someone pretty much hit the reset button on character development here.  Belle and The Beast's whole dynamic is wrong. The Beast is supposed to be changing by this point so Belle can learn to like him. Here, Belle is like his super-optimistic girlfriend trying to get him out of his emo funk. The Beast wasn't a dating project for Belle to work on. She was his prisoner for God's sake, and yes while she did make the best of a bad situation, she still missed her father and her old life.

Okay and then at a critical point in the film Belle leaves the castle grounds to go find a Christmas tree, and things get life-threatening. Beast finds her, rescues her…and then locks her in the tower for braking her promise to not leave. But she already broke that word when she ran into the wolves! And arguably at that point The Beast was probably being even less of a dick! So why does "running away from you being a dick" not equal imprisonment but "trying to make sure you have a Merry Christmas" does??

Now Im starting to get into nitpick territory but Forte, his ability to make music, it like, creates magic energy or projections? That he uses during his song (Yeah of course Tim Curry has a song) and the climax of the film. Okay, where's the logic in that? The Enchantress was just whipping up her spell and was like "Hmm, give the composer-turned-pipe organ magic powers." Well then why didn't she give Lumiere fire powers, or Cogsworth the ability to manipulate time and space?? I know this is a Disney movie and magic can run willy nilly, but in the first Beauty & The Beast it was established that these people just got transformed. No more. No less.

The songs in the film, are pretty bland, both on the sides of lyrics and music, although Tim Curry's song is pretty enjoyable. There's a song about Lumiere and Cogsworth's friendship, and it's catchy enough, but why is it here? It adds nothing to the film. There's no subplot about them. My guess it was left out of the original or the Broadway show and they shoehorned it in here. Animation is an obvious downgrade but it's nice given direct-to-video standards and the time it was made.

It's nice to get all the original voice cast back and they're all still giving it their best (despite the material…). Tim Curry is his usual enjoyable self as Forte, and I like the twist in his character wanting to remain enchanted. Paul Reubens as Fife is okay. Bernadette Peters features as the castle decorator turned into a Christmas tree angel, which is clever and she does a nice job. But…going back to nitpicking here!

We meet her in the attic with a bunch of other Christmas decorations. Look at an average Christmas tree, there's probably 30-40 ornaments up there. Now a tree by royalty standards? Probably hundreds. Who were all these people that they became ornaments??? What was their position in the castle that they got a special, seasonal curse? The Castle's Christmas Planning Committee?? And does this mean there's a bunch of poor bastards stuck in the attic transformed as Halloween decorations? Sorry I'm nitpicking I know, because in "Be Our Guest" we saw like hundreds of plates, glasses, etc. but it makes sense there would be all those! People will argue with me about this but oh well.

Beauty & The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas works in a way that passable fan-fiction works. It's not poorly made…if you don't mind forsaking character development and decent songs. Another rewrite or two and this could have been a worthy successor…by direct-to-video standards. If this is one of your favorite Christmas specials, then I won't take that away from you. It's not a disgrace and it's not unwatchable, there's some good intentions here. If it isn't or if you haven't seen it, strictly stick to the original (It's my favorite Disney film and my favorite film of all time), and pay attention to far better Christmas specials. Personally, this will probably remain at the bottom of my Christmas DVD collection. Happy Holidays.

Film Review- "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Directed by Gareth Edwards
Starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, and Ben Mendelson

We are now living in a reality where there will be a new Star Wars film every year. What a time to be alive. Though instead of just an "Episode" every year and plowing through trilogies, Disney and Lucasfilm are planning to sprinkle spin-off films or "Star Wars Stories" throughout the calendar. The first of these being Rogue One, and it has indeed set the bar for future Star Wars spin-offs.

Set many years after Revenge of the Sith, and shortly before A New Hope ("Ahhh! Prequel territory, run!!" Quiet you.) Rogue One centers on Jyn Erso (Jones), an anti-Empire street criminal who is rescued and recruited by the Rebels. It is revealed her father Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), who was taken to work for the Empire against his will when she was a child, has sent a holographic message to Rebel extremist Saw Gerrera (Forrest Whitaker). Due to her family ties, Jyn is sent with Captain Cassain Andor (Luna) and reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) to retrieve the message. What's in the message? A way to defeat the Empire's unfinished super weapon, the Death Star…

What follows are Jyn and the Rebels' attempts to steal the plans for the Death Star and gain a much needed edge over the Empire, personified here by Death Star Project Director (That's probably not his actual title but I'm calling him that) Orson Krennic (Mendelson) and the ever-looming presence of Darth Vader (James Earl Jones).

 Rogue One manages to craft a compelling and exciting story around a piece of the Star Wars timeline not many probably gave a second thought to. Most of that is credited to its wonderful cast of characters. This is a uniquely diverse and delightfully entertaining ensemble and it's a treat to go on this adventure with them. While most of us can predict how this is all going to go, you still care about these characters and want to see them to succeed. The final act of the film is an amazing ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the credits roll.

On the flip side of things, I did find the film's storyline lagged in parts. Some sequences were a little too slow and didn't get us very far. Additionally, as much as I loved these characters and I do feel we got just enough character development for them, I wanted so much more. I wanted to see them bond and interact more, because they're such wonderful characters. Hopefully by one way or another we will see these Rebels again.

Enough about the characters, how about the actors who play them? Felicity Jones as Jyn is obviously the center of the film, and she plays her perfectly with the right balance of gruff and heart. Diego Luna as Captain Andor does a fine job but is more often than not outshined by his co-stars. One of those co-stars being Alan Tudyk as K-2SO, who is a real scene stealer. Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen make a delightfully awesome pair as best friends/Rebel warriors Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus.

Ben Mendelson as our villain Director Krennic, is sadly a weak villain. Mendelson plays him well enough, but he's merely just an Empire officer desperate to rise through the ranks and please Darth Vader. Speaking of Darth Vader, this is the most terrifying he's ever been on film. He's used sparingly throughout the film, but when he's used it's incredibly effective.

Couple more notes. The film is beautiful. Stunning visuals and cutting-edge effects bring the Star Wars locations of old to life in a glorious new way, and the battle scenes are incredible to watch. There are plenty of cameos and Easter Eggs to please the fans out there so keep your eyes open. More on that, and being cryptic to avoid spoilers, two characters from the original trilogy are brought back for a significant amount of the film through the use of Industrial Light & Magic's digital technology. It's both eerie and amazing to see what they've done, and hard to talk about without seeing the film, but oh boy is it cool. Lastly, while Star Wars films usually have such iconic music, Michael Giacchino's score is somewhat forgettable, which is sad given his recent eargasmic work in Doctor Strange.

So Rogue One is not a perfect film, but it's incredibly well-made and incredibly entertaining. It's a film all Star Wars fans should love for years to come. If all Star Wars Stories are to be like this, then I think it's fair to say, it's a great time to be a Star Wars fan.

Also, if you'd like to see what some fans thought going into the film opening night, check out this piece I did for Burlington Cable Access TV (BCAT).